Where I'm Meant to Be
by LunaTuna
Summary: The story of how Rapunzel learns to live her life after the tower. Returning to her family, starting her life fresh and trying to keep Eugene from his old habits.
1. Chapter 1

_Hello! This is the first time I've been here, and I don't have any sort of spellcheck, so please don't mind any little errors that might be hiding through here; I was trying to get it out quick._

 _I'm aiming to have a chapter uploaded every Sunday._

 _Thank you!_

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Chapter One:

Their faces broke apart, and Eugene was engulfed by the large pair of green eyes peeing into his own. She breathed heavily for a few seconds, her fingers still clenched onto the fabric of his shirt, never blinking, as if asking him for answers.

"What now?"

He hesitated. What was he supposed to say to _that?!_ Her mother - the only person she'd ever had in her life up until a few short days ago - had just met her end and _he'd_ been the reason for it.

What now?

"What did she do to you?" he spoke before he could think, almost slapping himself afterwards.

She finally looked away from him, staring toward the floor now, rubbing her wrists anxiously. "She wasn't my mother," she began slowly. She looked to Pascal, a few feet from them, unmoving since Gothel fell, and when he didn't seem to help in anyway she faced Eugene again, staring at his lap rather than his face. "She took me. When I was a baby. I'm the lost princess."

 _The lost princess._

It took Eugene a moment. He watched her closely for any hint of confusion on her face with his mouth slightly open, and then shook his head. "Did she tell you that?"

"I figured it out on my own. Then when I confronted her about it, she..." Rapunzel huffed, her shoulders bouncing with the effort and eventually looked up at him again. "She wanted to make sure no one was going to find me again."

"Wow," Eugene let out a large sigh, his hand automatically rising to run his fingers through his hair, amazed when there was no pain in his side from his recent stabbing. "The lost princess..." he swallowed thickly. What to do now. He hadn't expected to be saying goodbye to her after all this mess, but there wasn't really any way around that now.

She wasn't blinking again. Her eyes were a little too big for him to feel comfortable under them. Her hair exploded from around her face, a dark chocolate which he thought suited her much better. Her hands were still clamped around her wrists, he noticed. Where her shackles had been not long before. He was positive if he got her to move them there would be some sort of bruising already beginning to appear.

"She's gone, Rapunzel," he said softly, taking her hands gently and attempting to pry them from her own skin. "She can't get to you anymore."

She burst into tears at that, her eyes screwing shut and her hands finding his own and grabbing at them painfully. He cringed at his bad choice of words yet again and pulled her into his arms, running his hand over the back of her cropped hair over and over.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," he whispered over and over again as she buried her face into his neck and her tears fell onto his collar, leaving a wet patch against his chest. These ones didn't seem to be doing much magic, and he wondered whether it had left her completely or whether like her hair, her tears needed that song.

When she finally stopped crying, exhausted, the sun was in the lower half of the sky. Pascal had found his place on her shoulder, leaning against her cheek in comfort, and Eugene's arms had gone numb from holding her to him, and were now relaxed around her as he waited for her to feel better.

"I'm sorry," she sniffed, rubbing at her nose with the back of her hand. "I don't know what to do," she looked up at him once again and he wiped the last of her slightly-dried tears from her cheekbones.

"It's okay," he said gently. He hesitated as long as he was able, but ultimately sighed and made a move to get up, adjusting her so he was able to pull her up with him. "I guess we should figure out how to get you home."

She looked around her tower, panicked. "Where am I going? I need you with me!"

"Rapunzel," he sighed, and for the first time, he was unable to look at her. "You have to go back to your parents. They've been waiting for you for eighteen years. They haven't given up on you - you shouldn't on them, either."

"But come with me," she spat desperately. "If I go back, you have to come with me!"

"You know I can't do that," he attempted to take a step away from her, but she held onto him and went with him. "I just escaped a beheading. There'll be guards everywhere looking for me; as soon as we step into the kingdom they'll have me. If not before."

"But they won't worry you when I tell them who I am."

"They're not going to listen to you in the midst of trying to capture me. I'm the first priority right now. The king and queen might still be waiting for you, but their men have other things on their mind."

"I'll tell them! I'll make sure they don't touch you! You're mine!"

He sighed, staring at her hopelessly. He knew it wouldn't work. But right now she was hysterical and he knew he wouldn't be able to reason with her. She had no idea about how the world out there worked, and she wasn't ever going to get one if she stayed hiding away with him.

"Okay. Max is waiting outside. Let's go."

She seemed desperate to leave. She grabbed a cloak in case of a cold night, made sure she had pascal, and scurried down the stairs faster than he'd ever seen her move before. Once outside of the tower, she made a direct line toward Maximus, not looking around, probably in fear of what she would see. Eugene helped her onto the horse and was about to mount himself, when he hesitated and went back to pick up Gothel's empty cloak from the ground. If she persisted enough for him to stay with her, he would need a back-up plan. He wasn't about to leave her in a hurry, and he'd secretly hoped every minute that she would turn around and tell him to take her far away, where no one would ever find either of them and they could live their lives happily together with people who had never heard of their stories. But she couldn't do that. The lost princess had to be found.

The cloak thrown over his shoulder, he mounted Maximus, wound his arms around Rapunzel and moved them out of the clearing. The girl in front of him never looked back to her only home of eighteen years.


	2. Chapter 2

Two:

The sky was almost dark before they'd moved too far. The air was warm-the first day of summer-but still Rapunzel trembled in his arms. He rested his mouth on the back of her hair, breathing her in subtly, wondering whether he was moving too far for her in this state. Or at all, seeing as she'd never had human contact before, other than with that old witch.

"We'll have to set up camp soon, Rapunzel," he blinked heavily a couple of times. "It's been a big day for all of us."

"I'm not sleeping," she said quietly. She didn't turn to face him, but her voice was definite. "I'm staying awake tonight."

"Even so...we should rest. We both need to be in the best condition for tomorrow. I have a feeling it's not going to be easy."

"We don't have to go back tomorrow," she said quickly, for the first time since they got on the horse sitting up straight. "We could wait a few days; hide out, find somewhere comfortable until we know exactly what we're doing."

"I'm not having you become a fugitive with me, Rapunzel! You're going back to your family. They've waited for you long enough."

Now she did turn around. Her face was void of emotion, and that scared him a little bit. He wondered if she'd simply showed too much today already and was unable to conjure up any more. "You don't want me to stay with you!"

He pulled Max up, and the horse stopped immediately, huffing in discomfort. "Right now, I want you more than anything else in the world. But I'm not going to hold out on something that needs to be done. I'm risking my life taking you back there - you're going back, and that's all I'm going to say on the subject."

"But they'll take you away from me."

"That's something we'll have to dwell on when the time comes." He finished, then corrected himself to save her worrying. "If the time comes."

She was silent for a long time, still looking over her shoulder at him. Gradually her face crumpled and she looked as though she were going to burst into tears again, and Eugene dug his heels into Maximus, the horse wandering on obediently. "We'll go to the Snuggly Duckling. Then, at least, we're not out in the open."

The ride to the pub was completely silent. Eugene worked himself up to the attempt of starting a conversation a number of times, but each time he was on the brink he pulled himself back. He'd never heard her this quiet before, and it was beginning to scare him a little. From time to time she'd sniff, and he knew she was trying to keep the fact that she was crying from him, and he acted as though he didn't know any better.

The world was black around them when they arrived. Eugene dismounted and then helped the princess down, Pascal clinging to her shoulder. Maximus gave him a long look as he left him beside a barrel of water with a small promise to find a few apples.

He put a gentle hand to Rapunzel's shoulder, guiding her to the wide wooden door and pushing it open quietly.

They were met with a loud roar of welcome, which quickly died down at the sight of the now short-haired, seemingly tortured princess. Almost at once, knives were drawn and directed toward Eugene.

"What did you do to her?"

Rapunzel was swept up into the arms of Vladimir, who held her protectively, and she didn't even seem to register what was happening.

"What?! Nothing! She had a rough day - put her down!"

"Seems like a bit more than a rough day, Rider."

"Where's all that hair gone?"

"Tell us what he really did; we'll take care of it."

"Okay!" Eugene moved forward to take her hand and pulled her safetly behind him. "We need a room for the night, and we'll be off first thing in the morning. If you want to help us, go for it, but what she really needs right now is a bit of space and some time."

They were again silent at his outburst, and moved out of the way long enough for Eugene to work his way to the bar, still holding onto Rapunzel's hand tightly.

"We've got a room," Hookhand said quietly from the other side of the counter, looking at Rapunzel with worry. "Follow me."

They followed him up a set of stairs that looked a little too unsafe, and down a narrow hall with a few identical doors, stained and damaged floor boards beneath their feet.

"Here," he stopped and unlocked a door with a long key, stepping back for them to enter. Rapunzel wandered in slowly and hopelessly dropped onto the dusty bed, her face directed at the floor, Pascal curling into her cheek tenderley. Eugene sighed and turned at the door, leaning out of it slightly to speak to Hookhand.

"There's been a couple of changes to her life today, and she's still wrapping her head around the whole thing. She's going to need a bit of time, but we'll be out of your hair tomorrow morning."

"Speaking of hair..."

"Don't!" he pointed a finger at the thug before him, perhaps feeling a little more powerful than he should.

Hookhand narrowed his eyes dangerously. "Where are you headed?"

"Back to the kingdom."

The thug sighed and leaned against the doorway outside, crossing his thick arms. "And why would that be a good idea? You're wanted more than anyone else in the kingdom right now. You'll lose your head as soon as you step foot through the gates."

"Rapunzel needs to go back. I'm not letting her do it by herself."

Hookhand shook his head slowly, looking past Eugene, into the room where Rapunzel was now crying quietly. "You'd better hope we don't find out you did something terrible to her. She doesn't deserve a crook like you."

Eugene sighed, and for a moment couldn't look at the thug. "I know."

"Tell her to get some sleep. And keep your hands to yourself." Hookhand pushed himself off the wall and began making his way back down the hall, not turning back to look at the thief still half-standing in the doorway.

Eugene lit a lamp on a desk on the wall and pulled the heavy door closed, locking it quietly. He sat beside Rapunzel, watching her helplessly, wondering what he should do next. Pascal stared at him with question, and Eugene shrugged his shoulders, as if the frog would have any better ideas than he had.

"Rapunzel," he began after ten minutes or so. "Talk to me. It might make you feel better."

She lowered her hands from her face. Her eyes and lips were red and puffy, her face covered with red blotches from her tears. Her hair stuck up from bizarre angles, some parts were stuck down to her face. She took a deep breath and let it out shakily.

"What should I say?"

"What do you need to?"

"I don't know...I don't think you understand how I feel. I mean, you just know she was a crazy old lady who kept me locked away for my hair, but I -" she choked on her tears, looking away from him quickly.

"Rapunzel," he began quietly, taking her pointed chin in his hands and forcing her to face him again. "I know how it feels to lose everything. She was your mother. She was the only person you knew for eighteen years. That tower was your only home..." he cleared his throat, promising himself he could do this. "I understand all of that. Completely."

"You don't think I'm being ridiculous?"

"No!" he pushed himself further onto the bed and crossed his legs, grabbing both of her hands. "You had no choice but to have all of those things. Of course you were going to care so deeply for them."

"Eugene," she watched him closely, her eyes still surprisingly wide with their currently puffy exterior. "What happened? To your family?"

Now he looked away from her, and she let go of his left hand to catch his face before he could make to move away from her. "Tell me,"

"I don't talk about it, Rapunzel."

"But you know my story!" she sat up straighter. "I let you know; you can't just keep yours from me."

He wondered whether he was really getting angry at her. He swallowed thickly. Could he tell her? He'd never spoken to anyone about it before. They had people in to speak to him when he first arrived at the orphanage, but he hadn't even greeted them the long couple of months they were there. There were other kids who got help, of course, but most of them were younger than he was when they arrived and couldn't even remember their families or their home life. They didn't know they were missing anything. And then they would go just as quickly as they came; babies and young children who could be brought up so easily by families who couldn't seem to have their own. No one wanted an almost-teenage boy with so many issues.

"How old were you?"

There was a long pause, but he eventually answered her, his eyes dead as he stared back at her. He didn't show emotion on this subject. He simply couldn't anymore. He'd thought too long and hard about it and he didn't even know how he felt about it all at this point.

"Nine."

"How long ago was that?"

"It was almost a year after you were taken from your family." He supplied for her. "I didn't really understand at the time. An eight-year-old boy doesn't really worry himself on the subject of the royal family. I just liked the parties they threw. My parents talked about you going missing for days. Everyone did. It was all the entire kingdom was talking about it. And then the parties stopped, and I stopped caring."

Her lips pressed together, her eyes finally drying up, and he realised talking about this was taking her mind of what had happened. So he kept talking. For her.

"They got really sick. It was going around, and the town stopped being so involved. People only went out when they absolutely needed to, and the ones who were affected couldn't do much but stay in bed."

He heard Rapunzel swallow, and his eyes softened at her. "The queen had it. I remember everyone talking about that. She had it right at the beginning. When she was pregnant with you. But she was one of the only ones that got better."

"Eugene..."

"It's okay," he squeezed her hands, perhaps a little too hard, and continued. "My family avoided it for ages, but they eventually ended up with it. My little sister was the first to go, and then my father got it from taking care of her, and then my mother. I tried to take care of them as best I could, but they didn't let me do much. They didn't want me anywhere near them. I just remember being so upset because they'd all left me behind and all I wanted was to go with them.

"I stayed there for days after. I didn't know where to go..." he snorted darkly. "I had this really brilliant plan that the king and queen were after a child and I was after a family and they would take me in your place."

The princesses lips twisted, and Eugene was quiet for a really long time, both of them watching each other uncomfortably.

"And then I was found and taken to an orphanage, and the rest is history. I got out when I was fifteen and started thieving and running and convincing too many women I loved them."

"Did you love them?" she asked in a whisper.

"A couple of them," he said honestly. "Not that I think about them now."

"I'm sorry, Eugene."

"Hey," he shrugged as if none of it mattered now, and suddenly he seemed to be back to himself. "It all happens for a reason, right? Maybe it was all pointing me to where I was supposed to go."

"I'm sorry for being a mess."

"You deserve to be."

"But you went through it all, too! And I didn't even think about you!"

"That was almost twenty years ago, Rapunzel." He grabbed her shoulders gently. "You have every right not to be okay at the moment. But you have to keep telling yourself things are going to get better. You have a family waiting for you," he smiled gently, trying to seem genuine. "That's more than a lot of people have. You're going to learn to live as a princess, and things are only going to get better and better and better."

Her face seemed to give up supporting itself, and it was completely void of emotion as her lips parted again. "But I want you over all of that."

He scoffed, like she'd just said the most ridiculous thing in the world. "Me? Nah," he cleared his throat uncomfortably. "You'll be too busy to even think of me."

"Eugene?" he'd never heard a voice so full of worry. "You're going to try, aren't you? You'll try to stay with me?"

He nodded, almost convincingly. "Of course, Rapunzel. We're just going to have to see how willing anyone is to listen to us."


End file.
